


Forgotten Tides

by Lovelywik



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Angst and Feels, Background Relationships, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), In the beginning at least bc it begins before they find out pidge is actually katie, Langst, M/M, Male Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Mutual Pining, Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Slow Burn, previous blue paladin lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2018-10-04 14:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10280693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovelywik/pseuds/Lovelywik
Summary: Forming Voltron is impossible when the Blue Paladin is missing.When the Blue Lion suddenly stops working, the group find out that the original Paladin is still alive, hidden away on a desolate planet. His memory of the night Zarkon attacked is foggy, and the events that lead to his disappearance are unclear. Uncovering the mystery to his disappearance may be key to discovering the many secrets of the Galra Empire.CURRENTLY REWRITING AND EDITING!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! This if my first Voltron fic, and the first sci-fi thing I've ever written so I hope it turns out okay! The idea for this fic has been on my mind for awhile now, totally inspired by all the Altean!Lance art I've seen around. Also was inspired to write after having read peachii's fic, the sunflower you lost, which is Really Good! There's a small reference to it in this fic bc I adore their fic a lot. 
> 
> Will fix up any mistakes in this later, I'm just really excited to post it. This chapter is set after S1E2.

Fighting in space was pretty freaking awesome. What was not so awesome was that the blue lion had decided to stop working for them.

All of the paladins along with Allura and Coran stood in the blue lion's hangar, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong. The lion had been working just fine before and after they had recaptured the other lions. It was working just fine during the fight to get back to Arus. But something must have happened after they finally formed Voltron (after hours of frustrated attempts) because the blue lion had made a weird noise, eyes glowing a bright yellow before it sat down in it’s terminal and activated its shield. No one was able to get through, not even the princess who had been flying it.

"There has to be a reason why Blue isn't responding to any of us" Keith scowled, crossing his arms in frustration.

Allura nodded. "I agree, she was fine when I piloted her earlier. Once the lions have claimed a new paladin, they don't typically close themselves off like this." She placed her hand upon the shield that was keeping them all out. "It doesn't make any sense..."

Shiro stepped close, looking up at the massive robot. "Keith, you said you heard her say something to you earlier when we first found her, do you remember what?"

Keith recalled the strange sensation of the lion communicating with him when they first flew out of Earth's atmosphere. There had been sensations and ideas that were pushed into his mind, but she never actually _said_ anything. But he tried to focus on what Blue had been trying to convey.

"Sort of...? I think it had something to do about a paladin."

“A paladin? That could be any of us.” Hunk said.

“No no. It felt more specific than that. Like... she wanted me to look for something-- _someone_. Their paladin.”

The group of them were silent for a moment, all of them trying to figure out what it would mean.

"Okay wait a sec," Pidge’s voice snapped them out of their thoughts. He waved his arms around, pointing to Allura. "Allura, didn't you say you felt that too? That the lion was looking for someone?"

Allura brows scrunched up in thought, hand falling from the shield. She crouched down to pet one of her mice, looking up at the robot. "Yes, but it doesn't make any sense. The paladins of old are gone."

"Why don't we, you know, just ask her?" Hunk said. “Like, there’s no harm in asking… right? I’m sure she’ll give us an answer.”

They all looked at one another, unsure.

“Haven’t we been asking, though?” said Pidge.

Keith looked up at the lion, staring intently into her eyes. He had an inkling that she needed more than their probing questions for her to answer. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to get a feel for the lion’s connection. He had connected to it before, he could probably connect to it again. In the back of his mind, he could feel the presence of his red lion. He gently pushed that connection away, opening his mind for the blue lion.

A shiver ran through him as the blue lion’s presence filled his mind.

“I’ll ask.” He said, placing his hand against the blue shield. It was cold, sending a chill through his arm. Keith couldn’t help but compare the shield to the one his red lion had, which was warm to the touch, unlike this one. "Blue lion, can you tell me about this paladin you were talking about?"

The shield rippled, but it didn’t disappear. The yellow eyes of the blue lion looked down at him.

A vision hit him like a brick and Keith stumbled as he closed his eyes, but he kept his hand in place. It was an image of a boy with brown skin and white hair standing in a field of what looked like sunflowers. The wind was gently ruffling his hair. His long blue cape was flowing with the direction of the wind. The sky was filled with clouds, a dark ship darting through the sky.

Keith opened his eyes. "This was your paladin?"

The lion was still, but Keith could swear the lion nodded its head.

"Wait what did you see?" Pidge asked, jumping around Keith excitedly.

"A boy with dark skin and white hair. "

Allura gasped, head turning to look up at the lion. "She showed you Lance?"

"Lance…?"

“Who’s that?” Hunk asked, tugging at the ends of his bandana.

“Lance was the Paladin for the blue lion, he was also a distant cousin of mine. It’s astonishing that Blue here still feels connected to him.”

“What do you think this means, Princess?” Shiro looked at her, concern in his eyes.

“I’m not sure…”

"What does that mean then?” Keith repeated after Shiro, looking back at the lion. “Why are you showing me this old paladin of yours?"

This time a vision pushed into his mind like water dripping from a faucet. It was a slow build up, a little blurry at the edges before it cleared and exploded with information. Too much for Keith to understand. There was a castle, much like the one they were in, but it was smaller and more compact. And it was floating in space, then it occurred to him that it wasn't a castle, it was a freaking space ship. 

An onslaught of images hit him one after the other.

Of a long haired Galra, strange planets, scarred faces, the cave they found Blue.

There was so much information that it was hard to focus on one thing. But then it all changed, concentrating on the ship again, the vision zooming in through a large window.

There was a pod in the center; a boy with stark white hair sleeping within it.

"Your Paladin is still alive, is-- is that what you're trying to say?"

The lion didn't move.

"That's impossible," The princess shook her head. “My father-- he sent the paladins off with the lions. None of them could have survived.”

“The vision I just saw, he was in a pod, like the one we found you and Coran in.”

“How could he have been put in a cryopod if he was supposed to be protecting the galaxy?”

“Well Princess,” Coran started, “As you know, your father sent the paladins off with their lions. It’s highly likely that the blue lion was in an Altean fighter ship and then sent off the lion, hurtling towards Earth. Who knows where that ship may be orbiting now.”

“It didn’t look like Blue hurtled toward earth. The place she was in wasn’t a crater where she impacted with the earth. And I also highly doubt she did with all those markings in the cave we found her in and what not,” Pidge remarked, pushing his glasses up his face.

“I agree” Hunk nodded his head, hand cupping his chin in thought. “The markings looked like someone purposely drew them. There were images of the lion and words that kind of look like Altean everywhere? And now that I think about it, they sort of acted like a sort of ward?”

“Yeah, you’re right. The symbols glowed once Shiro touched the symbol of the lion on the wall before the floor crumbled. We wouldn’t have been able to find the blue lion otherwise.”

“And if we take into account what Allura told us-- about how the lions choose their paladin, we can assume that those markings were placed there to prevent anyone else but future paladin--paladin _s_?-- to find the lion.”

“Ah I see,” Allura said. “So the question is, who was with the lion when it landed on earth?”

“It must have been another Altean,” Coran said. “No one else knows how to create those markings.”

“Well, whoever it was, they were keeping Blue safe. What we need to figure out now is how to find the blue paladin.” Shiro said, looking at Keith. “Can you see where Lance’s ship is?”

Keith closed his eyes. The image in his mind zoomed out from inside the ship, to outside. “Um… it’s definitely floating in space.”

“Are there any planets or suns that you see that can help us find his location?”

All the planets and stars Keith knew of were planets near Earth. And made up ones his father had told him in bedtime stories when he was growing up. He had no idea where in space this was. He didn’t even see any planets to describe, not even a distant one to take note of. The ship was floating in the middle of nowhere.

“All I see are stars. There aren't any planets or anything here really.”

“Is there any other way we can find the ship's location?” Shiro said. “Can we communicate with the ship somehow, send a signal that will help our GPS find it?”

Coran twirled the ends of his mustache in thought. “It’s a possibility. We’ll have to check the main control panel back in the command deck. But it may take a couple quintants since we don’t have any clue to where it is in space.”

Everyone nodded in understanding. It was a little discouraging the amount of time it would take to pinpoint the location of the ship. The Galra were after them, and without the blue lion participating during battles, they couldn’t form Voltron. They couldn’t be the defenders of the universe like Allura had told them they were supposed to be.

Keith took his hand off Blue’s shield, the image of the ship in space fading from his mind. But his thoughts went back to the white haired Altean boy. Lance.

Keith was trying to wrap the facts around his head, and some of them weren’t clicking in place. Information was jumbled, the puzzle pieces fragmented. They looked like they fit but they didn’t. There was definitely something missing, and he was determined to find out.

If Lance had been piloting the blue lion, supposedly fighting against the Galra, or trying to separate from the rest of the crew, how had he gotten into a ship? If he was frozen, who had piloted the lion in his stead, hiding it on Earth? He couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had caused him to get cryogenically frozen. Allura and Coran had been preserved by the late King Alfor. Who had been there to freeze Lance?

\--------

The harsh, ear piercing sound of the alarm rang throughout the castle woke Keith up. He was up in an instant, heart beating frantically in his chest. He was gripping his dagger in front of him, ready to strike.

Corans voice sounded from the speakers. “Alerting all paladins, please come to the command deck as soon as you can. We’ve got some information to share.”

The alarms died down, but Keith could still feel the ringing in his ears. God, what terrible way to wake up. He wondered vaguely, if this was how his days were going to be from now on, jolted awake to go help save the day, never having a decent amount of sleep. His heart was still pounding as he changed clothes and walked into the halls that lead to the command deck.

Everyone was there when he arrived. Pidge was rubbing his eyes. Hunk was nervously tapping his fingers on his thigh. Shiro stood near Allura, robot hand covering his mouth as he yawned. Keith briefly wondered if the alarm had unsettled Shiro more than it had the others, but there he didn’t seem like it had affected him any differently than it had the rest of them.

“Glad to see you make it Keith.” Allura smiled at him.

“What was with that god-awful alarm?” he asked as he stepped closer to the group, crossing his arms.

“Ah, sorry about that,” Coran said, scratching his head. “The ship still has some kinks to work out. She hasn’t been in proper operation for quite a while now, so she’s a little buggy. I’ll fix the alarm once we’ve got this blue paladin missing things figured out.”

“So what was so important that you had to wake us up like that?” Pidge asked this time, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Allura spoke first, hand hovering over the computer panel. Semantics appeared on the screen across from them. “Coran has figured out a way get the ship Lance is in to send a signal back to us.”

“Quite so! The ship Lance was in was probably a sister ship of this one if there were cryopods in it. And because, well, it’s Lance. Nobility and all. Anyway, the sister ships have very similar systems. I was able to pull up the connection between the two, but the communication system in his ship has shut down. I wasn’t able to trace that brief connection, but I was able to work around that and found a way to get the ship to create a beacon to show us where it is in space. The only problem is, it’s not a signal that we can isolate. Meaning--”

“Anyone in the vicinity will be able to tune into the frequency of the signal and find the location of the ship as well.” Pidge finished.

“Exactly!” Coran smiled brightly, clapping his hands together. “You paladins are quick to piece things together.”

Pidge beamed at the compliment.

“So we have to act fast,” Shiro deduced. “Once we get the signal, Allura has to get us up and ready to wormhole there in case Galra ships are nearby and get ahold of the location.”

“Wait, wormhole us as in us in our lions or us as in the whole ship?” Hunk asked.

“We’ll figure that part out later,” Shiro said. “I think the princess still has more to tell us.”

Allura smiled at him in thanks.

“You must be prepared to fight. Coran and I were asleep for ten thousand years, and Lance has been floating in outer space for the same amount of time. We believe his location to be safe if he’s still out there unharmed. Once we send the signal, that safety will be compromised.

“Although this pains me, we must postpone our search for him. You all need to train and hone your abilities if we want to have a chance against the Galra. Training won’t be for too long, a short 3 quintants should suffice in keeping your on your toes, prepared to fight. Does everyone agree with this?

The paladins all nodded, “We understand.”

“Then let us begin your training.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO its almost 3 am, and i just finished writing the chapter. i know it's been awhile since i updated, and that's mainly because of school and other things.  
> anyway, i made it a longer chapter to make up for the long wait! It's unedited rn bc i really wanted to update for you guys, I'll try to fix it up during the weekend. this chap has a few references to my fave fic the sunflower you lost bc i love it sm, pls check it out.
> 
> thanks for reading!!

Training was brutal and utterly exhausting.

Keith was both grateful and frustrated for the amped up training sessions. On one hand, it was helping him speed up his reflexes. On the other, his ass was getting handed to him more often than he could count. He wasn’t the type to give up easily, he was determined to win against the dumb training robots today. He had managed to knock one down earlier, but another one had grabbed his leg, throwing him across the room, his back hitting the wall. Pain had shot through his body, a groan escaping his lips. It felt like that was all he was going to be doing for the rest of his days, groan in pain.

Several bruises had blossomed on his legs and arms from blocking and being thrown against things. One bot had even kicked him right at the solar plexus. He still felt his lungs couldn’t get enough oxygen despite having fought that bot hours ago.

Shiro told him to take a break every so often. But even though Keith was beaten down and tired as fuck, he was still willing to spar for longer.

Fighting, sparring, moving, all those things helped ease his mind. They were familiar things. It helped him to focus. It was an outlet for his short temper and frustration. It put his mind off the puzzle of who the Blue Paladin was, and mystery to his whereabouts.

And so for the past three days, Keith had practically trained non-stop.

Pidge and Hunk were off to the side, watching and cheering Keith on as he attacked the robots with a hard jab, quickly pulling back as another one tried to grab his arm. A loud beep rang out, and the robots froze.

They all looked up toward the glass panel that looked over the training deck to see Allura smiling down at them.

"Please meet at the command deck in ten dobashes. Coran and I will fill you in on the ‘game plan’.”

There was a burst of palpable fervour in the room. Pidge, Hunk, and Keith scrambled to get ready. Keith wrapped a towel around the back of his sweaty neck. They went into the hallway, pace fast as they headed toward the command deck. Shiro was probably already there, having discussed the plan along with the princess.

Shiro gave them a small smile as they entered the room. Inside, the holographic map of the galaxy had been pulled up, hovering over the circular panel in near the centre of the room.

“Hello paladins.”

“Hey Allura,” they all chimed back.

“The plan to locate and retrieve the Blue Paladin is almost underway, thank you for training so hard for the mission.”

“Heh, no biggie,” Hunk said.

“We’ve been discussing the different types of scenarios that may occur during the mission, and we’ve come to the conclusion that only two of you will head to the location of Lance’s ship.”

“Wait why? Wouldn’t it be more efficient if all of us go?” Keith asked.

Shiro shook his head. “If all of us go, we’re at more risk of being spotted by the Galra or any enemy squadron in the area. It’s better to keep it small, keep it stealthy.”

“Oh I see where this is going.” Pidge pointed to himself. “I’m going and Keith is too right? For speed and stealth?”

Allura, Shiro, and Coran nodded. Hunk both looked elated, upset, and worried at the same time.

“The ship still needs a few more days before she’s operational for flight, which is another reason why we want to keep the operation small” Allura’s voice was smooth and filled with a nervous excitement. “It’s a comforting thought to have some of the lions still here to watch over the castle. It’s going to be risky going out there without the ability to form Voltron, but we will have to make do. This mission hopefully will not turn into a full scale battle."

“We’ll do our best.” Pidge and Keith said.

“So is there anything else we need to know about the plan?”

“Coran has been analysing the data from the brief connection to the sister ship Lance should be in. We’ve figured out the general area the ship is in.”

Allura swiped across the holographic map. “This is the Kukatrin Galaxy. We’re unsure of where exactly Lance is, but we’re certain of that this is the general location. What you need to know about this galaxy is that it resides within Galra territory.”

“Ah, so that’s why we need the stealth.”

Coran smiled, hands on his hips. “Need we remind you not to engage with the Galra. It’ll turn out worse than the time I was in the Hoobui Forests-of-Old back on Altea! And those Hoobui are supposed to be friendly!”

“Coran is right. Keith,” Shiro turned to look at him, a stern look in his eyes. “Make sure you guys stay away from enemy forces. Follow the plan, alright?”

Why did Shiro have to single him out? “Alright alright, _geez_.”

“From what the castles system is detecting, the Galaxy is mostly abandoned, but we must keep cautious. Out scanners are still in need of repair and may not be quite up to date, this information may not be accurate.”

“So what does this mean? The Galra have access to the planets but don’t use them? That… doesn’t really add up,” Hunk said, scratching his head.

“As I said, I’m not entirely certain if they have abandoned the System, but from the looks of it, they aren’t occupying any of the planets. Kukatrin _seems_ to be under Galran command.”

“Is it possible that they made a deal with the citizens or something? Or maybe the Galra are leaving Kukatrin as a backup resource area and are planning to occupy soon?” Pidge suggested.

Coran shook his head. “It’s possible, but we have no ways of communicating or analysing the area to know for sure until you and Keith go. And we may not even have the time to check for that information.”

“You guys need to be prepared.” Shiro looked to Pidge and Keith. “We’re going to activate the signal in two vargas.”

They all looked at one another, determination written on each of their faces.

They could do this.

\----

 

A thrill went through Keith as he headed back toward the command deck from his room. He had gone back to his room earlier to mentally prepare himself for the mission, and to hold his dagger in his hand. The dagger was a comforting weight in his palm. It was something familiar. It is one of the only things he still has to connect him to his past. And despite it being a weapon riddled with mystery and confusion, it was something that always helped him focus.

He held the weapon, contemplating like always about its origins. He tossed it from hand to hand before he sighed and placed it back into the drawer he placed it in for safe keeping. He picked up his bayard, attaching it to the holder on his thigh before heading out into the halls.

It wasn’t very long before he bumped into Pidge and Hunk. They invited Keith to join in their conversation with small smiles.

"What do you think Lance is going to be like?" Pidge hummed, leaning forward with his hands behind his back, bouncing with each step.  "Do you think he'll be like stuck up royalty? Or maybe a super strong leader like Shiro?"

"I dunno…”

“Come on Kieth, you saw him in that vision or whatever.” Hunk said.

“I didn't really see enough of him talking or in action. I barely even saw his face."

"Take a guess, you're the only one who got to see him."

"He seems like he'll be nice?"

Pidge rolled his eyes at that. "Hunk, what do you think?"

"I hope he's a fun and nice guy. I'm sure he will be if he’s Alluras distant cousin."

Keith and Pidge looked to one another, brows raised, laughter tickling their throats.

“What? Allura is fun and nice!” Hunk scratched his head. “More so nice, but you guys get what I mean right?”

“Yeah, I hope Lance is nice. I wonder what he’s gonna think about having new paladins to work with.”

“That’s probably going to be really depressing on his end,” Hunk said. “He was part of the original Voltron crew, I think it’s definitely going to be hard for him knowing that he’s the only old paladin to survive. What if they were friends? That would suck.”

“It would be.” Pidge’s eyes went distant, suddenly lost in thought.

“We’ll help him through it if he needs it,” Keith said, stopping once they reached the command deck.

Shiro stood by the entrance in full paladin. His arms were crossed, his lips thin with determination. He looked like _he_ was the one going on the mission.

“Ready guys?”

“As ready as we can be,” Keith replied.

“It’s not going to be an easy task.”

“We know.”

The older paladin chuckled, “I’m sure you do. Come on, Allura wants to go over the plan again before we send you two to your lions.”

The four of them walked into the room, eyes watching the princess with slight concern. Allura was pacing back and forth with her arms behind her back, her brows knitted together with anxiety, mumbling under her breath. Coran stood to the side, finger twirling at his mustache.

“Paladins,” Allura greeted with a brief nod once she finally noticed their presence. “We are ready to activate the signal in a moments time. Are you prepared?”

Keith and Pidge nodded.

“You two must go to your lions before we activate the signal. Once it is activated, the location of Lance’s ship should appear on our map instantaneously.”

“We presume you will have about two vargas for this mission. Less if Galra are present there,” Coran added.

“Once I get the location, I will open a wormhole. You two will go to his location, save him, and head back here right after. Do not deviate from the mission.”

“Mission being to bring Lance back here safe and sound, without alerting or instigating fights with the Galra.” Shiro chirped. Keith shot him an irritated glare.

“Do you understand the plan?”

Pidge and Keith gave a short sigh, “Yes, Allura.”

“All right then.”

Allura placed her hands on the central pedestal, eyes on the big screen. “Head to your lions, paladins.”

The Red and Green Paladin quickly headed to their lion’s hangars. They made sure their helmets were secured, comms on, and soon they were ready to fly.

“Ready?” Shiro’s voice sounded in their ears.

They didn’t have time to answer Shiro’s question because Allura shouted: “Now Coran!”

And before they knew it, the wormhole had been created, and the two of them were flying through the swirling circular mass that folded time and space. It was a funny thing, how normal this wormhole business had become. On the other side of the wormhole, the two found themselves close to a very bright green planet that had two moons orbiting it.

“It appears that Lance’s ship is not floating in deep space,” Allura’s voice came through the comms. “His ship seems to be on this abandoned planet, Latel.”

“Curious, I wonder how it got there. Maybe a Latellan ship found his ship while visiting the other planets on the Kukatrin system, and brought it back to their planet?”

“Who knows? Keith, Pidge, please continue onto the planet before you. Our scans here say it should be safe.”

“There don’t seem to be any Galra in the vicinity, but still, be careful out there,” Shiro said.

“Yeah guys, please don’t get hurt!”

“We got this,” Keith assured them. He looked at where green lion should be, he wasn’t entirely sure since Pidge had turned on the cloaking mechanism. Keith took in a deep breath, lips pursing with determination. “Pidge, let’s head down there.”

“Copy that!”

\----

The planet of Latel's landscape was flat, or maybe it was just this area that they were searching. There were no hills or mountains that they could see in the distance even though the two of them were flying high above the ground. Pidge’s lion scanned the planet, trying to locate the ship.

“Found anything yet?” Keith asked, his patience was wearing thin. They had spent about twenty minutes already in search, unable to pinpoint the exact location of the ship.

“Nope,” He heard Pidge sigh. “There has to be more going on to this. Something has to be jamming the signal. It’s impossible that my scanner hasn’t detected any big metal objects yet.”

Keith hummed in thought. “Maybe we need to get closer, see if that’ll help.”

They inched closer, but the scanner still brought up nothing. Keith grumbled something unintelligible.

“Have you tried changing -- the alig-- -- wire-- ld on--” Hunk’s voice broke off with static.

“What? Can you repeat that?”

“Fix th-- w-- -th- ---- -d-- if.”

“Okay wait, there’s something funking going on here,” Pidge said. His scanner still brought up nothing. “Maybe I was right, something is jamming the signal. We have to go down there. We won’t be able to find it by scanning around.”

“Sure.” It sounded like a good idea. It was something they could do. Something more than flying around in circles.

“I’ll fly up higher to contact them, let them know that the comm system probably won’t work. On the planet. I’ll meet you down below.”

Keith flew downward, eyes finally able to get a better look of the planet’s surface.

It was so… green. There was foliage _everywhere_. Keith wondered if the Latellans had lived underground or something because there were no buildings in sight. He flew closer to the land, the wind his lion made blew the plants around, long stems waving back and forth.

The ship here, on a planet full of yellow flowers. How strange for the vision to have shown him the ship in space. Had that just been a memory Blue had shown then? How had the ship gotten onto a planet safely? He knew what Coran has speculated, but so many things just did not add up in Keith’s mind. But one thing he knew for sure was that he was determined to find the Blue Paladin.

He flew around, eyes searching for a big white ship, like the one he saw in his vision. It _had_ to be here somewhere.

“KEITH!”

Keith jumped in his seat, his lion stopping abruptly. The green lion flew in front of him, and Keith could swear it was glaring at him.

“I’ve been trying to contact you for the past ten minutes.”

“Sorry, I never heard anything.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured.”

“Did you find anything?”

“I found out why the comms are acting weird. And yeah, something was jamming the signal. We have to fly back to the area you were just at because that was when you couldn’t hear me at all. Which probably means that’s where the jamming is coming from.”

Keith nodded his head, his lion copying the movement. They followed the green lion back, and once he and Pidge couldn’t communicate over the comms anymore, they both landed their lions.

As soon as they were out of the lions, the UI on their helmets signaled that the air was breathable, but they didn’t have the leisure to take them off and breath in the air. At the bottom corner of the screen was a timer. They had less than a vargas to get in and out of the place if they wanted to keep on time with the mission. 

“We have to figure out where the ship is. Do you think it might be underground?”

“Maybe? I’m not entirely sure.”

They stood there by the feet of their lions, watching as the timer ticked down.

A groan of metal brought their awareness back to the task at hand. The green lion had stood back up. Keith and Pidge looked at one another, eyes wide at the action. The lion reared its head back, mouth opening with a loud roar.

The two covered their ears, eyes shut, overwhelmed by the noise.

Blinking their eyes open, they were shocked to see that a few feet in front of them were hexagon lights flashing. The lights faded along with the illusion of flat flower covered land that had kept it from their sight. In front of them now stood the white sister ship of the Castle. The two of them scrambled to get closer, tripping over plants and their own feet in haste.

The ship was much bigger than Keith had thought it would be. It had looked so small and compact in the vision. It was definitely much smaller than the Castle was, but it looked big enough to host a crew of a few dozen.

Keith wondered vaguely if anyone else was on board, that maybe Lance had had a guardian along with him, someone like Coran. Maybe his guardian had frozen Lance, wanting to keep him safe from harm. Lance  _was_ Altean royalty after all.

They stood in front of the ship's main entrance, unsure how to get inside.

“Pidge, do you know how to open these doors?”

“Workin’ on it.”

Pidge touched something on his arm, a holographic keyboard hovering over it. He typed something out, arm reaching out to touch the ship’s door. With a few more buttons, the door opened with a loud groan.

“Easy peasy” Pidge smirked, heading inside.

Keith followed suit, moving past Pidge through the halls. Pidge pulled up the map of the ship on the hologram screen on his arm, then swiped something on the keyboard that shared the map onto their visors. The ship consisted of three main floors, the central floor holding the rooms and kitchen, the floor above being the command deck, and the floor they were on. The outer halls led to escape pods and one led to a hangar that looked like it would hold max two fighter jets.

With the timer ticking away, they quickly made their way into the circular room in the center of the ship. But they soon skidded to a stop.

The room was covered by those strange Altean wards they had seen by the lions before. These markings were messy, written in a blackish purple paint. Words were smudged, half written and fading at the ends of the letters. Between and behind the purple markers, black soot marks littered the wall.

Plasma shots had been fired in here.

“I don’t like this…” Pidge mumbled. “These are not good signs.”

“I agree. We still have to get through though.”

The center raised pedestal glowed blue as they inched forward. There was a soft hiss of air escaping an airlock, the grinding of metal as a pod emerged from a circular opening on the floor right behind the pedestal.

A gasp escaped the two of them at the sight.

The pod was covered in the markings, smudges of paint were on the glass, covering half the sleeping paladin's face.

“I’m going to scan this, send the images to Allura so she can decode the writing, explain what this means,” Pidge said, voice wavering slightly.

Pidge tapped at the keyboard, the gadget buzzed quietly as it scanned the room.

Keith stepped forward toward the pod. Keith tried to wipe away the smudged paint on the glass but with no avail. He glanced at Lance with a new curiosity. His peaceful demeanor and bright Altean clothing were a stark contrast to the dark stain painted walls. Who had done this? And for what purpose?

The pod was still closed, despite the control panel having activated it.

“Do you think these markers are preventing us from letting him out?” Keith asked Pidge, more so for confirmation than genuine curiosity.

“Looks like it.”

Keith stared at the pod, an onslaught of questions running through his mind.

Why go through the process of hiding a sleeping paladin of Voltron on an isolated planet in the middle of a forgotten galaxy, only to put extra wards to prevent him from being awakened?

“Seems like someone went through a lot of work to keep the paladin hidden,” Pidge said.

Keith agreed, but their time was running out. “We need to get him out of there, we can ask these questions later.”

“Fine.”

Pidge stood by the glowing pedestal, pressing the glowing blue symbol on the middle. Nothing happened. He put his arm in front of him, forearm hovering over the panel as he scanned it. There was no new information to give him.

“I think these wards might be interfering with its system.”

“It won’t wipe off,” Keith said.

“Well, duh, the paint has been dried for the last ten thousand years. Plus, who knows kind of properties come with Alien paint.”

“We have to do something about it. We don’t have the time to scrape it off with our bayards or whatever.”

“I’m scanning the material, hopefully, my device can figure out something we can use." 

Keith tapped his fingers against the glass. He didn’t want to break it, that was too dangerous. But time was running, and Allura can’t hold the wormhole forever. He went to the pedestal where Pidge stood. “No, we don’t have _time_ for that.”

“Well I’m _trying_ here, okay.”

The Red Paladin leaned forward, leaning on the pedestal to get a better look at Pidge. “I know, but I feel like we’re missing something.”

“Keith, look!”

The blue glow on the interface of the pedestal faded. The light slowly faded back, but this time glowing a deep purple, the same hue of the paint.

The paladins looked at one another, eyes wide with curiosity and confusion. The paint on the walls didn’t glow, but the paint on the glass of the pod did. The paint had gone from a dull purple, gradually brightening into a bright white.

White light blinded them, glass shattering, flying everywhere. Keith blinked his eyes, trying to clear his blurry vision from the intense light. The Blue Paladin stood inside a broken pod, his body swaying with lack of proper support. With quick reflexes, Keith lunged forward, catching the Altean as he fell forward.

The Blue Paladin's eyes were still shut, but Keith felt the boy's chest move with a breath. He was alive. Still asleep despite being out of the pod.

Keith looked to Pidge with uncertainty.

A screeching alarm sounded coming from the walls of the aging castle. Their hearts picked up, racing a mile a minute. 

“Ugh,” They both groaned, rubbing at the side of their helmets. Suddenly their comms went static, then settled faster than a blink of an eye. They were back online, and Shiro’s voice was shouting in their ears. “-r guess was wrong, Galra were in the area. I repeat Galra are in the area.”

“Shiro!”

“Finally! Do you copy? You guys need to get out of there now, a Galra ship is on its way!”

“Copy that!” Keith said, grunting as he lifted Lance over his shoulder. He glanced at the timer on his visor screen, they still had about twenty minutes to get back through the wormhole.

As they headed toward the exit, Keith turned to the Green Paladin. “Pidge, I’m going to put Lance on your lion. Put the stealth on. Get through the wormhole. I’ll distract the ship to help you get away faster before I head in too.”

Pidge nodded.

  
It was risky, but it made sense to him. Keith had promised not to engage with the Galra, but sometimes, the situation calls for a change in plans.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can also find me on [tumblr](http://lancemclaen.tumblr.com) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/deeremo)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg what? two updates in one week? yeah, so instead of editing the last chapter like i said i would, i ended up writing the next chapter lol. i wrote it bc i was procrastinating from studying for my exam tomorrow... you may also have noticed that i edited the summary of the fic. well hello new information. 
> 
> anyway, after my exam, i'll do my best to look over the chapters and edit! but for now, enjoy!

Lance was dreaming.

Dreaming of the stars, of the blue white cloud of them that spanned Altea’s night sky. Of how they hinted of all the different planets to explore in the galaxy.

It was peaceful here in his private dreamscape, lying on the soft grass that tickled his arms and legs. The quiet rustling of leaves, the soft chimes of the bells that hung on the veranda behind him, the sound of the waves lapping against the shore down below all melding together into a quiet song that made him feel light all over. The feeling reminded him of home. Of his big loving family.

This was the place Lance always found himself in when he slept, more so he wanted to escape the troubles of the real world. The peace and quiet of nature of this place always eased his mind.

The dream was soft, light, and lovely, and it had settled deep into his bones. He wanted to lie here forever watching the night sky. But for the first time in a while, there was a small part of him that urged him to wake, telling him that he didn't have to sleep anymore. But his heart and mind was so content here. He didn't want to leave.

Lance closed his eyes, shifting his arms to the back of his head. He listened to the lapping waves, imagining himself and his siblings jumping into the warm waters, laughing and dancing around. His lips tugged into a smile, releasing a soft contented sigh.

"Watch out!"

His eyes opened. That was not the voice of one of his siblings.

Lance sat up, his hands digging into the cold dirt beneath him. He shook his head, getting rid of the few stray pieces of grass that had stuck into his white hair.

Whose voice had that been?

His dream rarely featured anyone else. And if he did dream of someone, they usually appeared in his dream slowly, speaking kind comforting words.

"Hello?" He tentatively asked, his voice scratchy from disuse. "Who are you?"

"We need to get out of here!" The voice was coming from the sky.

Lance crossed his arms. "You didn't answer my question!"

Silence.

He waited a moment, hoping for a response. But there was nothing.

"This is such quiznak," Lance muttered, scratching an itch at the back of his neck. "Brain, why are you disrupting the peace?"

He pushed himself up to stand, swaying a bit once he was up. There was that familiar urging in his brain again, it was something important, something about his dream. Lance pushed the thought away. There was something more insistent on his mind, the need to find peace and quiet again. He had obviously used up all the peace this spot offered. He was going to go down the cliffside, down toward the white sanded beach to let the waves wash away the disturbance.

The path down the cliffside winded around tall trees, but it was clear of rocks and debris. His bare feet were safe from accidentally stepping on something sharp. As he walked down, he contemplated on how strange it was for him to hear a voice only now in this special place.

How long had he been sleeping anyway? He couldn’t tell. Time was weird when he went to bed. It did feel like a long time though. Especially since he noticed how it took awhile before something different occurred. Well, it didn't matter. What he needed was to find a sliver of peace and quiet again.

"--me _on_! We have five ticks to--"

The voice cut off, the loud sharp sound of guns firing off in the distance replacing it.

"Stealth mode cut off ten ticks ago Kei--" Another shot rang out.

Lances stomach twisted. His body hunched, his legs unsteady. He wobbled forward, hand reaching out to lean against a tree to steady himself.

What the hell was happening?

His dream world rippled, the dirt beneath his feet twisted and turned. He looked up to the sky, stars swirling around like a typhoon.

His body felt like it had been thrown into a washing machine. The sensations were similar to the the time he first piloted the training ship. He had had crashed the simulation within ticks because, not that he liked to admit it, he had been totally unprepared. He hadn’t taken to account the pressure it put on your body with sharp turns and accelerating. His stomach had ached for days after that initial practice flight.

The pressure on his gut, the jittering of his legs; he wanted the feeling gone. He wanted to be back in that filling sense of harmony. He wanted to be in the water, swimming with the Chordata. Why was he so nauseous?

What was going on?

Closing his eyes, Lance tried to even his breathing. He tried to will the voice away, but it became more and more present, growing louder and louder as the seconds ticked by. The voice in the sky was yelling to dodge, fire, to move faster. Gun shots sounded over and over, ringing in his ears.

And suddenly it hit him.

There was a fight going on, and this fight was happening outside his dream. His back straightened.

Why wasn’t he awake?

A sense of relief fill his mind at the thought. He pushed away the desire of peace that threatened to overwhelm the new desire to wake up.

He had to wake up. He had to help whoever this was.

But how the hell was he not awake? _Why_ was he still here?

A loud relieved sigh snapped him out of his thoughts. The voice called out from the sky again, gunshots weakening and then stopping altogether.

"Yeah, Lance is fine.”

No, no he definitely was not. He totally disagreed. He couldn’t wake up. Why he had fallen asleep in the first place was lost to him, but what he did know was that he needed to wake the hell up. What else could he do though? Jump off the cliff and hopefully jolt himself awake from falling?

Actually, the idea wasn’t that bad. He could work with it. The cliff wasn’t that high that he would fall to his death. It would be like he was cliff diving really.

Lance pushed himself off the tree, steps staggering as he headed back up the hill. His hands grazed the rough bark of the trees as he walked. The stars above had gone back to normal, a sense of peace slowly settling back into his skin.

He tried to focus at the task on hand, of getting to the cliffside to jump and wake himself up, but the pull of the dreamworld tugged at his heart and mind. It was overwhelming his sense of duty to help someone in need.

The voice had stopped anyway. Did they really need his help?

He stopped walking, hand dropping to his side.

This place was safe from the fighting. He wouldn’t get hurt. It would be okay to wake up once someone came to get him.

Someone had promised to get him.

He had to wait.

 _No_. _Stop_ , he told himself. His hands shook as he tried to fight off the desire to stay here, to stay asleep. The feeling to ignore the troubles of the outside world was overwhelming, all encompassing. It was all around him, the air he breathed, the dirt beneath his feet, the stars that watched him from above.

It was suffocating.

The warped sense of peace was infiltrating every part of his body. Lance clenched his fists to stop the shaking. It was telling him to wait.

But he had waited long enough.

He couldn't’ stay here any longer. He took a step forward.

Each step he took was faster and faster, and soon he was at a full on run up the winding path of the hill. The world was tilting each and every way. Leaves were reaching out, pulling at the threads of his clothes. Rain poured from the clear starry sky, softening the dirt, turning it into sticky mud. The trees bent, branches blocking the path. He jumped over them, tripping after every other one but he kept pushing himself forward.

Forward. Forward. Forward. 

In the near distance, he saw the cliffside. And there was the small cabin where the bells hung outside stood, solid and unchanging. It gave off a sense of comfort, a sense of home and family, inviting him to go inside and have a nice warm meal.

Nails dug into the palms of his hands in an attempt to stop himself from walking to its direction.

The call to stay shouted in his mind, pulling at his body to stop and lie back down. To pretend that voice had never called out. To forget that there was a fight going outside.

It was safe here. He would be safe.

His body skidded to a stop at the strong thought of safety. His feet sliding on mud, body falling forward into the wet grass.

With a grunt, Lance pushed himself back up onto his knees. His whole body was shaking, feeling weak, trying his hardest to fight off this unnatural overwhelming desire. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t make it to the cliff. It would be so much easier to just lie down and watch the stars dance in the sky.

His own thoughts fought with the desires the dreamscape. It was tiring. His eyelids grew heavy with sleep. Sleeping in dream. What a funny thought.

“I hope he’ll wake up,” the same voice from before whispered from the sky.

His head snapped up toward the sound.

“It’s strange how he hasn’t yet.” It was a different voice this time, a familiar one. One that reminded him of home.

The world around him rumbled as determination filled his body. The desire to stay shouted in his mind, but Lance ignored it. He repeated the voice’s words in his head over and over, letting it wash over him. Letting it rekindle the dying flame of his need to wake up.

He ran.  Ran toward the cliffside, the world around him blurring. He could see the land opening up to the dark ocean down below.

Another step forward, ocean air filling his lungs. Each step was one step closer to freedom. There at the edge of the cliff, the world began to melt away, bright stars fading.

He jumped, falling into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also, i made a playlist for this fic (also bc of procrastination. dang it is good at making me productive with other things than what i'm supposed to be doing) it might be spoilery for things to come tho, so i'm not entirely sure if i want to share it just yet? 
> 
> feel free to chat w me about the fic on [tumblr](http://lancemclaen.tumblr.com) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/deeremo) as well :)


	4. UPDATE

Hi guys! I hope this isn't super disappointing to get a chapter update that's only me babbling and not the actual fic.

I did lose inspiration for this fic as time went by, a lot of things happened with school and family, and I kind of abandoned it. But I am here to announce that my inspiration has been renewed, after reading a lot of Voltron fics again recently, and I plan to get this fic _done_. I have been making a lot of changes to the initial plot. I will be editing the tags of the fic accordingly when I have the real update ready. I don't want to delete the fic outright then repost because the beginning will mostly be the same just with timeline and character interaction. I'll be reuploading the first three chapters all at once along with chapter four when it is ready. I'm really excited to actually finish and get this fic back on the road! Please be patient with me.


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